Local News

Tyrone installs all-access playground

Volunteers’ efforts make Reservoir Park open to all abilities

TYRONE -- Borough Manager Ardean Latchford's daughter, Shena, a behavioral therapist, once had a middle-aged client with disabilities who resisted her suggestion that he look for a job to counter his feelings that he wasn't worth much -- thoughts that reflected his experience as a child who could only watch as his siblings frolicked on the playground.

On Thursday, Shena Latchford was at Reservoir Park helping with the construction of accessible play equipment -- there is a swing and there will be a seesaw, as well as other features -- that years ago might have given her client a lift that could have lasted a lifetime.

"You can see (from the example of his daughter's client) the long-term effect when we're told we can't do something," said Ardean Latchford, whose wife, Robin, was among a contingent of volunteer assemblers from Albemarle Inc.

Diane Smith, an administrative assistant at Albe­marle, watched as a group of volunteers held a heavy ramp in place, while others tightened collars to affix the ramp to poles set in empty cardboard forms that would be filled with concrete mix, then sprayed to set it, after the hardware was adjusted plumb and level.

"I have a special-needs child," Smith said.

Bryce, her 11th-grader at Altoona Area High School, has autism and is non-verbal, functioning at the level of a 5-year-old, she said.

She pointed to the regular play equipment nearby.

"He (cannot) do what a lot of normal kids (can) do," Smith said.

She'll probably bring him to play on the new equipment.

"I'm always trying to find something for him," she said.

The new equipment will include "sensory panels," allowing kids to make ringing and drumming sounds, according to Robin Latchford.

There will also be a "spinner" or merry-go-round, said Ardean Latchford.

There's nothing like it within many miles of the borough, Robin Latchford said.

Research and development chemist Denny Auerbeck, another volunteer, likes to build things -- he does car repair and household projects at home -- and he likes the cooperation and teamwork that is common at work in Albemarle.

But there's a certain special quality that sets volunteer work apart, he said.

There were to be about 30 Albemarle workers at the site Thursday, in two waves, according to Ardean Latchford.

An employee of General Recreation, acting as a representative of Landscape Structures, the equipment manufacturer, supervised the installation.

The entire project will cost about $80,000, Ardean Latchford said.

The Albemarle Founda­tion donated $10,000 toward the project, Robin Latch­ford said.

Volunteer participation by company workers was a corollary to that donation, she indicated.

Additional funding will come from the borough's Community Enrichment Fund, which relies on revenue from leasing land on which wind turbines have been installed.

Borough employees were expected to be working at the site today.

A poured resilient rubber surface will be placed in the spring, Ardean Latchford said.

The impetus for the project came from Penny Brunner, founder of Smiles for Miles, a local charitable foundation.

Her idea is for inclusion, and when presented with it, Borough Council "jumped on board," according to Ardean Latchford.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.